


Side by Side

by MelyndaR



Series: Through the Flames Series [5]
Category: Courageous (2011)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-06 07:40:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3126422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Read on as another year passes in the lives of these characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

A wide yawn split Dylan Mitchell's face in the early morning of August twenty-fifth as he sat in front of the computer and flexed his cramped hand, working on his secret project. He rubbed his eyes and refocused on the computer, knowing that Jade would be getting up any minute now.

Speaking of which…

"Hey, you."

Dylan jumped a mile in the air when Jade wrapped her arms around his shoulders and spoke with her head on his shoulder.

"Good morning." Dylan returned the greeting, slamming the notebook in front of him closed and shutting down the website he was on.

"Okay…" Jade looked at him strangely. "What's with that?"

"Nothing." Dylan told her, getting up. "Nothing important."

She raised her eyebrows, looking so much like her mother. "Uh–huh."

She didn't believe him, but she didn't push him for the real answer either. She knew he would tell her if it really mattered.

"So," Dylan turned towards the kitchen. "Breakfast."

He was in the middle of whisking eggs when his mother's words from the nineteenth came back to him. He was startled to realize that he had never told Jade what he had overheard Victoria saying. So he brought it up.

"Hey, you'll never guess what my mom said a few days ago." He informed her.

"Then why don't you just tell me?" She answered, glancing up from buttering toast.

"Mom said," he paused for dramatic effect, but the pause gave him time to consider if it was really wise to share his mother's words. The conversation that it could quite possibly start…

"What'd she say?" Jade asked.

Oh well, no turning back now. "She said that she thought… that… well, apparently, she thinks that we – you and I – are going to be together for a very long time."

Jade looked back up at him. "What did she say to make you think that she thought that?"

Dylan replayed the conversation between his parents to Jade.

"Huh." Jade remarked, sounding deep in thought and maybe a little surprised. She bit her lip and twirled her claddagh around her finger. "What do you think of that? Marriage? Kids?"

Dylan sighed. "I don't know for sure. I've always thought I was too young to think like that yet." He paused, thinking, before continuing, "Here's the thing, though, I've thought about it this week,… and I don't know that… I would, will, know how to, well, how to live without you when you guys move back into your own place. I know that sounds cliché, but, yeah…What we're doing here, is quite literally running a household together. More than one person has said that it's like we're all ready married.

I have no basis for this theory, but here it is: I think that when you move, it's going to feel like getting a divorce. An unwilling one at that. At least on my part."

Jade nodded. "I know."

Dylan grinned despite himself. "And, really, kids don't bother me as much as they used to. I mean, we take care of five. One or two sounds easy."

* * *

Nathan stayed still in the hallway, mulling over the conversation he had just overheard between the two teenagers. Then he spun silently on his toes and padded back down the hallway. For some reason, he felt like crawling back under the covers and hiding from the reality of how much of a part Dylan Mitchell played in his daughter's life.

And yet… Nathan considered the lists he and Jade had made together. They were good for each other, he knew that. Dylan was a good young man, and he would be a good husband. It was the thought of giving his daughter up, or at least away, that made Nathan dig in his heels. As he settled back next to Kayla, he lifted the matter up in prayer, and put his worry away.

Later that morning, as he habitually did, he stopped by the dry-erase board that Dylan wrote on and read the inscription for the day.

First came a point from the resolution, they had come back around to the beginning:  _I do solemnly swear before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children._

Then came the lyrics of a song, lyrics that gave him pause.

_Mama you taught me to do the right things  
So now you have to let your baby fly_

_You've given me everything that I will need_  
To make it through this crazy thing called life  
And I know you watch me grow up and only want what's best for me  
And I think I found the answer to your prayers  
And he is good, so good  
He treats your little girl like a real man should  
He is good, so good, he makes promises he keeps  
No he's never gonna leave  
So don't you worry about me  
Don't you worry about me  
Mama there's no way you'll ever lose me  
And giving me away is not goodbye  
As you watch me walk down to my future, I hope tears of joy are in your eyes  
'Cuz he is good, so good  
He treats your little girl like a real man should  
He is good, so good, he makes promises he keeps  
No he's never gonna leave  
So don't you worry about me  
Don't you worry about me  
And when I watch my little baby grow I'll only want what's best for her  
And I hope she'll find the answer to my prayers  
And that she'll say  
He is good, so good  
He treats your little girl like a real man should  
He is good, so good, he makes promises he keeps  
No he's never gonna leave  
So don't you worry about me  
Don't you worry about me.

Nathan's mind whirled. He knew that the song was a reference to David, having married Amanda only the day before, but still, at least in Nathan's mind, it could be applied to Dylan and Jade.

He turned and read the verse. Matthew 19:6.

_Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder._

Nathan tried not to cringe, feeling a headache explode behind his eyes. He was tired of telling himself that it was puppy love. Whether that was true or not, he didn't know. Time would tell.


	2. Chapter 2

September fourth found Dylan sitting in his car at the high school. Jade sat in the passenger side seat, looking at him with a well of uncertainty in her eyes.

"Ready?" he asked softly, knowing full well she was thinking of the final, hellish days of their previous school year.

She shook her head. "No."

He smiled sadly and took her hand across the console. "It'll be okay. Derrick is old news, you know that."

"I still don't have any friends." Jade pointed out. "Not here in school."

"Times and people change, you'll find some friends. And you still have me. I seem to recall something about 'For better or worse'."

He was glad to see her smile at that. He hadn't had reason to reference that promise for a while, so he figured that bringing it up now had surprised her.

"Do you want me to pray before we go in?" he inquired.

She nodded and whispered, "Please."

So he did. When he said amen, he gave her hand a squeeze before getting his backpack and getting out of the car. He walked around the front of the car and reclaimed it when she got out of the car. She gave him a smile, but her eyes said that the gesture was a lie.

They needn't have worried though. Sure, they didn't really have any other friends, but they weren't bullied, like they had been the year before. They were just… invisible.

But, as promised, they had each other.

* * *

"Huh."

Dylan looked over at Jade later that night. They were sitting in their normal spot in the living room after the children had gone to bed, along with everyone else, and Jade was on the laptop, checking her email.

"What?" Dylan asked, sneaking a glance.

"Aunt Tina forwarded me an email."

"Oh?"

Jade nodded and began to read the email, "The forwarded part says, 'I saw a strange sight while I was jogging today. A teenage girl and I couldn't help but notice her jewelry - two rings, to be exact. A purity ring on her left hand and a claddagh ring – turned inward - on her right. It made me think: about the girl herself and about the boy who was the reason that it was turned in.

What did he think about that purity ring? Which ring did he think was the more important one?

I have no grounds for this, but I think that those two – whoever they are – are going to last.'" It ended with a question. "'What do you think?'"

Dylan had frozen halfway through Jade's reading, half way awed, half way horrified.

He wasn't even surprised when David nudged him with his foot from his place on the couch and asked, "Quick, knee-jerk answer. Which one is more important?"

So Dylan gave it to him, hoping that David would let him off the hook with the barest answer, and trying to ignore the fact that the whole room had paused to hear his answer. "The purity ring."

"Why?" David asked, leaning forward a little.

Dylan paused thoughtfully, trying to find a way to phrase it. "The… purity ring, that has a set purpose. A claddagh can take many forms. It could mean 'I'm single', 'I'm in a relationship', 'I'm engaged, and it could even be used as a wedding ring… And since there are those variables there, that means that it can be changed. If you break off an engagement, you can switch it around and go on, meet someone else, and start all over again. The purity ring… that symbolizes something you either have,… or you don't… And that is something that you can only change once. Once it's gone,… it's gone. And," he paused. "And in my opinion – an opinion I am about ninety-nine percent certain you share," He raised his eyebrows, though he was studying his hands. "despite yourself –" He took a deep breath before he met David's gaze. "That is something that you… save. For your spouse." He shrugged, highly uncomfortable with Nathan's gaze burning a hole in the side of his head. "My opinion."

David nodded, satisfied with the answer, and sat back against the couch. "Good answer."

Dylan risked a glance first at Nathan, and was rewarded with a nod from the man that he  _knew_ was going to be his father-in-law. He saw the soft glaze Kayla was giving him, and he knew that she knew it too. One look at the faces of his parents, filled with parental pride, and he knew that they were wondering when exactly he had become a man.

Funny thing, he wasn't sure of the answer.

* * *

The evening of October twenty-sixth was met by a very serious, rather upset group of children and their parents, who were in noticeably better spirits than the children. While all the current residents of the Mitchell house watched, Javier shoved a final bag of clothes onto the floorboard of his family's car.

The Martinez family was officially moving into the house that they had found.

Javier shook hands with people and Carmen doled out hugs to the women while everyone from Dylan to Marcos stood clustered in a group in a far corner of the yard.

Olivia and Isabel were clinging to each other and Marcos had a death grip on Dylan's leg. Dylan looked at Jade over the heads of the children, knowing that one of them had to say something to get them to cheer up. The look that she gave him informed him that she considered that his job.

"Hey, listen." He demanded, prying Marcos off of his leg and picking him up, catching the eye of each of the kids in turn. "It's not like Isabel and Marcos are leaving forever and we're never going to see them again. They're only moving across town. We'll still see them at church and probably lots more besides. It'll be okay, I promise." Again he caught each child's eye as he asked, "Do you believe me?"

One by one they all nodded solemnly.

"Good." He smiled at the group. "Then let's see those smiles."

They each complied.

He looked at the boy in his arms. "Now give me a hug."

Marcos did, and Dylan got down on one knee and stood him carefully on the ground. He reached an arm out to Isabel and she came to him, hugging him long and hard. Over her shoulder he nodded for the other kids to join in and he found himself on the edge of a six-person group hug.

Javier cleared his throat from behind Dylan and asked, "Are you ready?"

Dylan nodded and Isabel and Marcos copied the action. Each child took one of their father's hands and he led them to the car.

As the Martinezes drove away, Isabel and Marcos waving until they were out of sight, Jade and Olivia both sidled up to him. Dylan hefted Olivia into an arm and put the other arm around Jade's shoulders.

She leaned her head onto his chest and asked quietly, "Has anyone ever told you that you would make a great daddy?"

"Nope." The question had him mildly surprised.

"Well, it's true."

"Thanks."

"You got anybody in mind?" she asked vaguely, lowering her voice so that even Olivia couldn't hear her, not that the four year old particularly cared to pay any attention.

Dylan tightened his grip on her shoulders for a second in a half-hug, smiling. "What do you think?"


	3. Chapter 3

David pulled the covers up to his chin, noting the coolness in the study slash bedroom that meant the November day was also going to be cool outside. He turned, coming face to face with his wife of two and a half months. She was awake, something that was odd for six a.m., which was the time.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

Something had been different about her for the past couple of weeks, and it was starting to concern him. She hadn't been sleeping well, and had even cut down on her coffee intake. He wished she wouldn't. It made the life of anyone around her… well,… interesting.

"'Can't go back to sleep." She answered vaguely.

"Why not?" He wanted the real answer to the bigger picture, and she knew it.

"Thinking." She tried to sidestep him again.

"About what?" He pressed.

A long moment of silence stretched between them while she considered her answer, eyes averted from his.

"Amanda?" He ran a finger over her cheek, hating and confused by the way that she flinched against his touch, almost drawing away, definitely tensing.

"David," She whispered.

When she flinched, a tear squeezed out of her eye, and as she said his name, he brushed it away, utterly confused by such an obvious hurt, and by the fact that he had no idea where it was coming from. The last time he had seen her like this was when she had told him that she was - expecting.

"I…" Amanda tried again to tell him what was on her mind. "I'm pregnant."

Bull's-eye.

"What?!" He needed to make sure that he had heard her right.

"Pregnant." She repeated uncertainly.

"Pregnant." David repeated, a warm awe sliding through him, coming through as he spoke. Elation was on its heels. "Oh, Mandy," He hadn't used that pet name since they were still on speaking terms in college. "Pregnant! This is great! It is!" He curbed the desire to shout, remembering Olivia asleep nearby. He calmed down and looked his still worried wife in the eye, needing to banish her fear, or, as was more likely, the memories that were haunting her.

He pulled her close, and she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Listen to me, crazy lady." He demanded, feeling tears start to soak through his t-shirt. "I know what you're thinking, and this is a whole different ball game than that. You are my wife. I love you, so much more than my stupid brain can explain. And I. Am not. Leaving. I am never, ever leaving you, or Olivia, or our baby. Do you understand? You're my life, the three of you. I will never hurt you that way again. I promise. Can you believe me? At all?"

She nodded against his shoulder before pulling away and looking him in the eye. "I believe you." She smiled at him and took a deep breath to compose herself.

"Good." David kissed her, before asking, "When are you due?"

"Somewhere around June first. I set up an appointment with the doctor for after work today."

David lay back against the bed, doing the math. Then he said, "What time?"

"Five thirty."

"I'll be there."

Now her smile became full-fledged. Her tears were long gone, and she laughed aloud. And kept right on doing it, always quietly though, because of Olivia. He joined in, he couldn't help. Soon they were acting like a couple of stupid teenagers, dancing around the room, laughing their heads off. How Olivia slept through it, he had no idea, but she did.

Eventually they made their way down the hallway, knowing that only Dylan and Jade would be up. Amanda twirled under his arm as they came to a stop in the kitchen doorway, hand in hand.

Jade pointed towards them and asked Dylan, "Is that the explanation for the song?"

Dylan's only response was a knowing smile that confirmed Jade's question.

"What song?" David asked.

Jade jerked her head towards the board in a corner of the dining room, and David went to investigate, still hand in hand with his wife.

The resolution point at the top:  _I will confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy._ The point that David considered his own. The verse; Psalms 127:3-5.  _Lo, children are an heritage of the L_ _ORD_ _: and the fruit of the womb is his reward._   _As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth._ _Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them._

The verses could be attributed to thoughts of Bethany, Dylan's unborn sister who was due to make her appearance any day now. The song though… it didn't quite fit with that train of thought. Brad Paisley's "Anything Like Me".

" _I remember sayin' I don't care either way_  
Just as long as he or she is healthy, I'm okay  
And then the doctor pointed to the corner of the screen  
And said, "You see that thing right there? Well, you know what that means."  
I started wondering who he was going to be  
And I thought heaven help us if he's anything like me  
He'll probably climb a tree too tall and ride his bike too fast  
End up every summer wearin' something in a cast  
He's gonna throw a ball and break some glass  
In a window down the street  
He's gonna get in trouble, oh, he's gonna get in fights  
I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep  
It's safe to say that I'm gonna get my payback  
If he's anything like me  
I can see him right now, knees all skinned up  
With a magnifying glass tryin' to melt a Tonka truck  
Won't he be a sight with his football helmet on?  
That'll be his first love 'til his first love comes along  
He'll get his heart broke by the time he's in his teens  
And heaven help him if he's anything like me  
He'll probably stay out too late and drive his car too fast  
Get a speeding ticket, he'll pay for mowing grass  
He's gonna get caught skippin' class  
And be grounded for a week  
He's gonna get into trouble, we're gonna get in fights  
I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep  
It's safe to say that I'm gonna get my payback  
If he's anything like me  
He's gonna love me  
And hate me along the way  
The years are gonna fly by  
And I already dread the day  
He's gonna hug his mama, he's gonna shake my hand  
He's gonna act like he can't wait to leave  
But as he drives out he'll cry his eyes out  
If he's anything like me  
There's worst folks to be like, oh, he'll be alright  
If he's anything like me."

"Eavesdropper." David accused.

"Hey, it was worth it." Dylan shot back easily.

"That don't make it right." David replied, releasing Amanda's hand and heading for the coffee maker. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched his wife fall into a seat at the dining room table, staring at the lyrics.

"Oh, don't start acting like a dad  _now_." Dylan demanded. "You take care of you and yours, and I'll take care of me."

"And mine." Amanda spoke up from the other side of the room.

Dylan turned to her. "What?"

"The saying is 'me and mine'."

David shook his head when Dylan smiled at Jade, his thoughts plain in his eyes. "Yeah, me and mine."


	4. Chapter 4

Dylan was slightly disappointed when David and Amanda didn't spill the news that morning. He shrugged it off though and soon he and Jade were heading for the door. He opened the door only to be confronted by a blast of cool air, hovering around forty. On his heels, Jade shivered.

Dylan shut the door and went to the coat closet. He dug out a couple of his jackets, put one on, and returned to Jade. He handed the red and white jacket to Jade.

She looked at it, draped across his arm, and then back in his eyes. "Isn't that your track jacket?"

He nodded. "It's nice. It'll keep you real warm."

She took it and held it up for inspection, pleasure sparkling in her eyes when she saw "Mitchell" printed across the back.

"You can keep it, I don't need it."

"You're not going to rejoin the track team next year after all of this craziness is over?" She asked, surprised.

"Nah. I've got a bigger life than running. It's fun and I'll keep running, but being on the track team takes up too much of my time."

Jade smiled for some reason and turned her attention back to the jacket. "You're sure? Wearing this at school… it kinda makes a statement."

Dylan smiled at her. "Good."

She grinned shyly, and slid the jacket on. He spun his finger, indicating that she should twirl. She did, her grin widening.

"I like it better on you, anyway." Dylan confessed.

She laughed, pulling it close around her. "Thank you."

"Oh, thank you." He hated to break the spell, but, "We better leave."

"Before you get yourself killed?" Jade volunteered.

He smiled dryly. "Before we're late for school."

* * *

The next evening, Dylan was standing in his parents' bedroom beside the crib that had been set up for little Bethany Anne Mitchell, due in no more than three days. He turned from the crib when he heard little feet pattering down the hallway towards the bedroom. The littlest kids were supposed to be in taking naps, but the steps were too light to be Jade, Jordan, or any of the adults. He crept to the doorway, hoping to avoid waking his mother, who was taking a nap of her own in the bed.

Olivia was standing uncertainly in the hallway, watching him. Dylan crossed the threshold, and closed the door behind him, hopefully giving his mother a little more peace and quiet before all of the adults got home in a few minutes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, bending down to her level.

"I can't sleep."

"Well, why not?"

"I don't know."

Dylan raised his eyebrows. "I can't help you then."

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Is it a quick question?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, what is it?"

"Do you like having a sister? Are brothers different than sisters? Pregnant means you're gonna have a baby, right? Do your parents like the baby more than they love you? Are you still important to them too or do they forget about you? Are babies nice to their brothers and sisters?"

All of this in one solid rush, and Dylan got the feeling that she hadn't been asleep when her parents had been talking the previous morning.

"Whoa." Dylan stopped the onslaught mid-sentence. "Come here."

Dylan took her hand and led her back into the study. He retrieved a photo album from one of the bookcases and settled on the couch beside Olivia with it in his lap.

"Let's answer those questions one at a time, what do you say?"

She nodded, as solemn as Dylan had ever seen her.

"Do I like having a sister?" Dylan mused, flipping through the album, looking for one picture in particular. "I did. I didn't tell her that, but I did." Finding the picture, he pointed it out to Olivia. "See this one? That's when Emily had just been born." A small smile flittered across his face. "That was the first time I held her."

"She's holding your hand." Olivia pointed out; pointing to Emily's doll-sized hand curled around the finger of the then six year old Dylan.

"Huh. She is." Dylan smiled, trying to ignore the bittersweet memories assaulting him. "I guess that means that she like me too. What do you think?"

Olivia nodded, smiling as well.

"Are brothers different than sisters?" Dylan flipped to the back of the album, to the pictures of Emily's final birthday, and pointed out a picture of Emily sitting between Dylan and Tyler, all smiling up at the camera. "Yeah, they are in a way, but then they're not. I know that doesn't make sense, but the point is that neither one is worse than the other, and you love them both the same."

Dylan paused, decided to skip the question concerning the definition of "pregnant", and moved onto-

"Do your parents love the baby more than they love you? No." Dylan flipped back to the front of the book, showing Olivia a picture of the four Mitchells while they were still at the hospital. He leaned back against the couch, and put an arm around Olivia. "I'll be honest. Babies take time, a lot of it. But Mommy and Daddy will never love a baby any more, or less, than they love their older kids. I promise, okay?"

Olivia nodded. "Okay."

"And you are  _always_  important to your parents. They'll never forget you. Never, ever. It's just not possible." She smiled a little at him, so he continued. "Babies are nice. They don't do much, just sleep and eat mostly. But it seems like they get really big really fast. They'll start smiling and waving. And they'll recognize you." He added.

"They will?!"

Dylan nodded, turning a couple of pages in the album to a picture of Emily at a few months old, smiling up at him; they were almost nose to nose. "When they get to seeing clearer they'll recognize your face. Mom says if you talk to them before they're born, they'll recognize your voice even before they can see real well, when they're born."

"Wow…" Olivia's thoughts drifted elsewhere as she flipped curiously through the photo album. "Dylan?" she asked after a minute. "When do babies start to hear?"

"When they get ears."

"But when is that?"

"I don't know."

"Can we go find out?"

He smiled at her, seeing that excitement had replaced worry in her eyes. "All right. Come on."

He slid the photo album back into its place and turned back to Olivia. And noticed for the first time that David and Amanda were both standing in the study doorway, smiling at him.

"Do you want to take it from here?" Dylan asked cheerfully.

David nodded as Olivia ran to him. "Sure."

Dylan gave him a small wave as he passed by them on his way out of the study. "They're all yours."


	5. Chapter 5

Amanda curled up beside David on the couch after supper later that evening, putting her head on his shoulder and waiting for the kids, aka, Olivia, to finish getting ready for bed. She was thoroughly convinced that she had never been as happy as she was right then. She had had the most amazing evening of her life after leaving work.

Nestled in her purse, waiting for viewing, was a disc with the footage of the ultrasound on it. Amanda couldn't wait to show it to Olivia. She and David had planned on telling Olivia about the pregnancy that way, but apparently that wasn't going to be necessary. They both still wanted her to see the footage though. They had a feeling that she would find a way to tell the others via that – probably by screaming, if Amanda knew her daughter.

Speaking of Olivia, she was coming down the hallway in a baggy white t-shirt that Amanda was pretty sure had been Emily's, and a pair of floral pajama pants.

When she reached the living room, Amanda asked her, "There's a disc in my purse. Can you bring it here? Daddy and I want to show it to you before you go to bed."

Olivia nodded and retrieved it, handing it to Amanda, who put it in the laptop on David's lap. Then Olivia curled up on her lap, watching the video load intently. When it came on, Amanda watched her daughter's expression carefully. She looked confused.

"It's all fuzzy." She complained. "I can't see anything."

David traced the baby's outline on the computer screen and asked, "How about now?"

Both parents smiled as her expressive eyes got saucer wide and her mouth dropped open. Amanda shook with laughter. It was the second time that she had seen that expression today, and Olivia had never looked more like her father.

"Is that ours?" she asked cautiously.

David laughed. "Yes, it is."

"Your what?" Victoria asked suspiciously.

Olivia looked over at her, smiling and saying mischievously. "I want you to figure it out."

Victoria leaned back slowly against the couch, eyes narrowed, thinking. "Well, the board makes me suspicious. Yesterday, there was 'Anything Like Me'. That's about a son, doesn't fit for Bethany. Today's song clinched it. 'God of Second Chances'." Amanda watched as Victoria turned to Adam and asked, "Do you remember that conversation we had about just how many lives that resolution changed, and/or brought about?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah."

"You remember what I said?"

"That he wanted a second chance to be there from 'go'."

Victoria nodded, a knowing smirk on her face, and turned back to Olivia. "You are going to be a big sister soon, aren't you?"

Olivia nodded excitedly. And everybody broke loose. Amanda had never been happier than when Adam sidled up to her and asked, slinging his arm around her shoulders, "So, does this mean that I'm gonna be a grandpa?"

"Absolutely."

After another half-hour, once Olivia had calmed down, David told her it was time to go to bed. She agreed with minimal resistance as everyone settled back in their customary places around the living room. Olivia hugged Dylan, Jade, and David before she moved on to Amanda. Saving the best for last, Olivia had once told her.

Halfway down the hallway, Olivia turned back on her heel and ran to Amanda, giving her another, bigger, hug.

Amanda barely heard her when she whispered, "Good night, baby."

"How come she gets two?" David asked.

"It wasn't for her." Olivia informed him. "It was for Jonny."

"Who's Jonny?" David asked with arched eyebrows.

"Jonathan David Thomson. Only I call him Jonny."

David's eyebrows got higher, and he asked in amusement, "Is that how it is?"

Olivia nodded and spun, running back down the hallway to bed without another word.

Amanda shrugged when David looked at her with questions in his eyes. "I like it though."

* * *

November seventeenth found a very restless group of people in the waiting room of the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. When Anna turned the corner and came to the doorway of the waiting room, she couldn't help but smile. Adam and Dylan Mitchell were both trying to pace ruts in the floor.

Anna cleared her throat and watched as dozens of eyes swung to meet hers. The pink, pink wrapped bundle in her arms squirmed.

"Dad?"Anna asked. Not that she had to ask. He was always the most anxious person in the room.

"That's me." Adam Mitchell was at her side in two steps.

Anna checked his bracelet and handed over the baby girl.

"Mom's doing fine. You'll be able to go back in and see her in a couple of minutes."

"Thank you." He replied, eyes glued to the tiny life in his arms.

Anna smiled. "My pleasure.

* * *

David smiled, watching Dylan as he held little Bethany, whispering endearments to his sister. Dylan's head suddenly snapped up to look at David.

"Come here." Dylan beckoned.

Knowing what the young man had in mind, David shook his head viciously, nervously, taking a step back. Nathan nudged him.

"Go on. You need the practice."

Dylan met him half-way across the room and slid the dark-haired bundle into David's arms.

He was so caught up in the little miracle of life in his arms that the words almost didn't register when Jade came up to Dylan and asked, "So, how many of those do you think you could handle?"

"Well, I  _know_ I can handle five. But I don't know, I want time for just you and me before we even think about going there."

"Bethany," David spoke to the bundle in his arms. "You better take advantage of having your brother living with you while you can. It isn't gonna last long around talk like that."


	6. Chapter 6

Dylan took the notebook from his lap and slammed it down on the carpet in frustration. He had hoped to have his project ready for the holidays, but, at December twenty-third, it was obvious that it wasn't going to be ready. And trying to keep Jade from finding out about it made it all the harder.

"How long have you been working on those?" Adam asked.

"Too long." Dylan snapped in aggravation.

"Maybe you should take a break." Adam suggested before changing the subject. "So, what's your resolution for this year?"

Dylan snorted. "To survive." He paused then added as the thought occurred to him, "Although, by next year's end…" He let the thought trail off as he realized what he had almost said. No way was he finishing that sentence. "Oh, wow." The thought hit him again, with all of its meaning trailing behind it. "No resolution. Not this year." The words had a double meaning now.

"Not even a normal New Year's Eve resolution?" Jade questioned, coming in from changing out of her church clothes.

"He all ready has one of those." Nathan cut in. "To survive."

Dylan cringed. Him and his stupid mouth. Jade looked between the two of them in confusion before it dawned on her. She threw up her hands and turned to go into the kitchen, leaving him alone with his father and hers. "I don't want to know."

"Oh, thanks for the support here!" he called after her.

"You're welcome!" she called back cheekily.

Dylan rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself. He didn't notice that Nathan was doing the same thing.

* * *

Jade sat wrapped in a blanket, sitting on a blanket on the grass, with Dylan's arms around her. And for the first time there was no real reason for it, neither one of them was crying or overly excited or emotional. Just happy. And, besides, it was almost midnight, on New Year's Eve no less. People did things at this hour that they wouldn't otherwise.

Far off, Adam and Nathan were setting off fireworks.

Come to think of it, that probably made him feel safer too. Her dad wasn't around.

"I decided on my resolution." He whispered near her ear.

"Oh? What is it?"

"I am resolved, that by the end of this year, I will have a fiancée."

Jade turned around in his arms to look at him. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really." He quirked an eyebrow. "Not yet though."

"Okay. That's fine by me. And it's a really great resolution, I love it."

Jade kissed him on the cheek, and as soon as she did, Javier called out, "Happy New Year!"

Under the din of the following shouts, she added, "And I love you, too."

* * *

Dylan checked the calendar as he stumbled into the kitchen another morning over a month later. It was another holiday, but he just couldn't remember which one. Oh, Valentine's Day.

He went over to the board and wrote out the day's resolution point, smiling that it was  _this one_  for today:  _I will be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Christ did for me._

The Scripture of the day was a no brainer. 1 Corinthians 13 verse 13.  _And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity._

The song, though, gave him pause. He thought for a while before he wrote out the lyrics to John Michael Montgomery's "I Swear". It was the song that his parents had played at their wedding, and it felt like Valentine's Day to him.

" _I see the questions in your eyes_  
I know what's weighing on your mind  
But you can be sure I know my part  
'Cause I'll stand beside you through the years  
You'll only cry those happy tears  
And though I'll make mistakes  
I'll never break your heart  
I swear  
By the moon and stars in the sky  
I'll be there  
I swear  
Like the shadow that's by your side  
I'll be there  
For better or worse  
'Til death do us part  
I'll love you with every beat of my heart  
I swear  
I'll give you everything I can  
I'll build your dreams with these two hands  
We'll hang some memories on the wall  
And when there's silver in your hair  
You won't have to ask if I still care  
'Cause as time turns the page  
My love won't age at all  
I swear  
By the moon and stars in the sky  
I'll be there  
I swear  
Like the shadow that's by your side  
I'll be there  
For better or worse  
'Til death do us part  
I'll love you with every beat of my heart  
I swear  
I swear  
By the moon and stars in the sky  
I'll be there  
I swear  
Like the shadow that's by your side  
I'll be there  
For better or worse  
'Til death do us part  
I'll love you with every beat of my heart  
I swear  
I swear."

* * *

Dylan was halfway through with his lunch at school when he realized.

"I am a horrible person." He moaned.

"Why?" Jade asked in confusion.

"We started 'dating' in  _June_."

"Yeah. And?"

"And when have we been on a date?"

Jade froze as she realized, "We… haven't."

Dylan nodded.

"That's horrible!" Jade exclaimed.

"It is." Dylan groaned.

"But I don't mind." Jade assured him. "I really don't. We all ready spend all of our time together. It doesn't matter."

But it mattered to him. And it had to be rectified.

* * *

"Hey, Jade?"

Jade looked up from Dylan's desk where she was doing her homework later that night and turned to face him where he stood in the doorway. "Yeah?"

"So…" he rocked on his heels before coming further into the room. "Do you have a lot of homework?"

"I actually just finished up. Why? Are you needing something?"

"Yeah. I need you to get your shoes on and come with me."

Jade raised her eyebrows. "Where to?"

"That," he grinned boyishly. "Is for me to know and for you to find out when we get there."

"Okay." She stood and pulled her shoes on, feeling inexplicably nervous.

Dylan didn't like secrets or keep them, especially not from her. He was just feeling ornery, she decided. She must have gotten too used to the Dylan that looked after the kids and house with her, an adult. The Dylan she was seeing right now was the joking teenager that she had met and, yes, fallen for, while running with him.

She liked that Dylan.


	7. Chapter 7

Jade became more and more confused the farther Dylan drove on.

"Are we going to the Holt's?" she asked at length.

"Something like that." Dylan answered vaguely as he parked at the edge of a trail.

"This is their land." Jade pointed out.

"So it is." He replied, opening her car door for her. "Come on. We'll have to walk from here."

Jade smiled in glad surprise as Dylan pulled a previously unnoticed picnic basket from the back of the car. "A picnic."

His only answer was, "Good guess." He held his hand out for hers. "Just trust me."

She nodded, smiling sweetly, and slid her hand into his. "All right."

He led her along a trail beside a lake. Jade gasped when she noticed the cross and strategically placed stumps.

"It's from an old summer camp, I think."

"This is really neat."

Dylan nodded in agreement and tugged on her hand, pulling her towards the edge of the clearing. "I want to show you something."

Jade followed him and gasped again in surprise when Dylan pulled back the curtain of leaves from the only weeping willow in the clearing. A blanket was all ready spread out, waiting for them.

"Go on." He urged.

She complied, and crawled on her hands and knees, settling herself on the plush pink blanket. Dylan sat down across from her and began to unload the picnic basket.

"Pearly's!" Jade laughed.

"Courtesy of Amanda." Dylan informed her with a quirk of his eyebrows.

Once the basket was empty, they bowed their heads and Dylan prayed.

They ate in companionable silence for a moment before Jade remarked, "I almost don't know what to do without kids around."

Dylan smiled. "I know. That's sad. We sound like an old married couple."

Jade laughed and nodded. "Well, we're close enough to it."

The silence that stretched between them was thick with one question: Will we ever be it?

"What do you think about that? Getting married?" Dylan finally asked.

"I… I'd like that." Jade decided.

Dylan smiled. "Me too. But, not yet. After school?"

Jade nodded. "Definitely after school."

She saw Dylan swallow hard. "When after school?"

She grinned, yet as serious as ever when she said, "Whenever you get around to asking for Dad's blessing."

He froze, staring at her in horror. "I actually have to do that?"

"Of course you do. Anyway, it was one of the stipulations of my promise ring."

"Well, then just get rid of it!" he exclaimed.

Jade bit her tongue against an unwise comment, reminding herself that she was being held accountable. All on his own, Dylan seemed to realize what he'd said.

"That's not what I meant!" he squeaked, as red as Jade had ever seen him.

She laughed and let him off the hook. "I know. So, where were we before you flipped?"

"That's perfectly flip-worthy." Dylan informed her incredulously.

"I know that too. I think it was 'when after school'."

"Um… yeah. Do you want to go to college?"

Jade thought for a second. "I can take online classes. You?"

Dylan shook his head. "I want to get into the sheriff's office as soon as possible."

Jade's heart skipped a beat. "Oh." She tried to cover for herself with a question. "How long will it take to get a job there? If you pass and all that."

"Oh, I'll pass." Dylan told her confidently.

She didn't doubt it. She knew that he had been recreating the deputies' training and doing it himself. Doing it very well.

"I can shoot better than Bobby and I run better and longer than both Nathan and Dad."

"All right, hotshot, I get the picture." Jade smiled despite herself as she saw his happiness just talking about it.

"I'll be nineteen when and if I get in."

"So… we graduate. That's set in stone. Then what do we do between that and the department?"

Dylan considered that. "Well, we'll need money for a down payment on a house. That means that at least I am getting a job."

"I figured I would too. It just makes sense. But when do we start moving from here to… there?"

Dylan rested his chin on a fist, smiling serenely at her. "That is for me to know, and you to be surprised by."

He all ready had a time picked out, she just knew it.

* * *

"Here they are!" David declared loudly as Dylan came inside the house behind Jade.

"I told you we should have taken the kitchen door." He complained, closing the door behind him.

"Why? We have nothing to hide. Well,"

Dylan cringed when she glanced teasingly at her purity ring.

"I have nothing to hide."

"That's not fair!" Dylan complained, keenly aware of the fact that six adults were staring intently at them. "A man has a right to be startled at the requirements that you presented. And, FYI, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to stumble and say something stupid on your first date, so, that's nothing new. And it's completely forgivable."

"That, dear rookie of mine, depends on who you talk to."

She waved the almost empty basket of Pearly's in front of his nose and he got the point. She had Pearly's food and if he was a rookie, it was a reference to David and Amanda.

He snatched the basket from her, heading into the kitchen with it. "Never."

She laughed at him.

When he reappeared and habitually settled next to Jade on the floor, Amanda asked, "Seeing as I'm the only one who knows,  _for now,_  what was in that basket, dare I ask what you two talked about?"

"Oh, you do not want to know." Jade informed her. "Nothing bad, you just don't want to know. You'll hear plenty about it in 2015."

"You're  _trying_ to get me killed, aren't you?" Dylan groaned, watching the adults do the math and connect the dots. "Well, you don't have to worry. I won't make it to that year."

"And why is that?" Adam asked cheerfully.

Dylan short laugh was almost maniacal. "Because. Because he has tasers and guns and a double agent!"

David burst out laughing. "You're exaggerating."

Dylan arched an eyebrow. "No, I'm not. I know you promised to tell him stuff."

"I promised to tell him if something happened that worried me. Nothing really has, so, I don't tell him half as much as you think I do. That does not mean that you can do something stupid though."

"Yes, teacher." Dylan said in a high, mocking voice. Going back to his normal tone, he said, "No duh."

"Just…" Amanda started and paused before saying, "Promise me that you two are going to graduate before you go any further."

"We promise." Jade said sweetly, firmly.

"Absolutely." Dylan replied. "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."

"Don't tempt me." Nathan growled.

 


	8. Chapter 8

On March first, the Martinez family came over for dinner, and stuck around afterwards, talking amongst themselves in the living room.

"I've been thinking ever since we moved that something is missing from the house." Javier said. "I finally figured out what it was as I left for work today. It's the resolution. Most of us don't have our copies anymore. Do you think that I could sign another copy?"

"Of course." Adam declared. "I guess you'll all want to, won't you?"

David and Nathan nodded.

"Why don't the three of them just redo the ceremony?" Kayla asked.

"Suits and everything?" David asked with a woeful look in his eyes.

"Suits and everything." Kayla repeated.

"We could do it tomorrow." Victoria suggested softly.

Adam looked at his wife with sad tenderness, putting an arm around her shoulders. Tomorrow. The first anniversary of Emily's death. Across the room, Dylan kissed Bethany, whom he was holding, on her downy head, and Jade gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. He smiled shakily at her, while he pretended that he didn't understand the significance of what his mother had just said.

* * *

Dylan knew that she was trying to get his mind off of Emily when Jade asked him, "So, who do you think that the resolution changed the most?"

Dylan allowed his mind to go in that direction. "The most?" He thought for a second. "Shane. He did sign the resolution, after all. And now he's in jail."

"Who would be second then?" she asked.

"Maybe I'm biased, but the words 'And your wife and children to stand beside me' come to mind."

William Barrett's words from the resolution ceremony.

"Huh. I'd never thought about that before." Jade confessed.

"It's… It's just nice to know that her death had a reason that we could see." A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips and Dylan said softly. "A lot of reasons actually."

* * *

Jade ghosted into the kitchen the next morning to see Dylan standing motionless in front of the empty board with his head down and his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.  _God, help him. Help us all_ , she prayed, going over and placing a hand on his forearm.

"I want to put something to help my parents, but I just… can't." he explained brokenly, still not looking at her.

She wordlessly took the marker from his hand and began to write.

First came the resolution point, the last one.  _I will courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory._

Next she wrote out part of a poem: "There Is No Death" by J.L. McCreery.

 _There is no death! The stars go down  
To rise upon some other shore,  
And bright in heaven's jeweled crown  
They shine forevermore.  
There is no death! The forest leaves  
Convert to life the viewless air;  
The rocks disorganize to feed  
The hungry moss they bear.  
There is no death! The dust we tread  
Shall change, beneath the summer showers  
To golden grain, or mellowed fruit,  
Or rainbow-tinted flowers.  
There is no death! The leaves may fall,  
And flowers may fade and pass away-  
They only wait, through wintry hours,  
The warm, sweet breath of May.  
There is no death! The choicest gifts  
That heaven hath kindly lent to earth  
Are ever first to seek again  
The country of their birth.  
And all things that for growth or joy  
Are worthy of our love or care,  
Whose loss has left us desolate,  
Are safely garnered there.  
Though life becomes a desert waste,  
We know it's fairest, sweetest flowers,  
Transplanted into Paradise,  
Adorn immortal bowers.  
The voice of birdlike melody  
That we have missed and mourned so long,  
Now mingles with the angel choir  
In everlasting song.  
There is no death! Although we grieve  
When beautiful, familiar forms  
That we have learned to love are torn  
From our embracing arms-  
Although with bowed and breaking heart,  
With sable garb and silent tread,  
We bear their senseless dust to rest,  
And say that they are "dead,"  
They are not dead! They have but passed  
Beyond the mists that blind us here  
Into the new and larger life  
Of that serener sphere.  
They have but dropped their robe of clay  
To put their shining raiment on;  
They have not wandered far away-  
They are not "lost" nor "gone."  
_Then for the Scripture verse: Ecclesiastes eight, verses one and four.  _To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven… A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;_

Her task there done, she turned to Dylan and hugged him, holding onto him while the sobs racked his athletic frame. It was going to be a hard day.

"God," she prayed aloud. "You know what today means to us, what we're doing here today. I ask you, please, Jesus, help us." She continued to pray, and at long last, Dylan's sobs quieted.

When he assured her that he was okay, she retrieved a notebook and, sitting at the kitchen table began to write on a page of it. When she was sure that the list was complete, she hung in on the all ready crowded board as well.

_Adam: won back his son's heart, wrote the resolution that changed so many lives._

_Nathan: won back his daughter's heart, mentored Derrick and led him to Christ._

_Javier: got a promotion, that means a better life for his parents as well._

_David: received Christ, "Your wife and children to stand beside me." Need I say more?_

_We lost, yes, but we all gained so much!_

* * *

_It's true, we have_ , David thought, smiling as he stepped up to Adam, who was overseeing the ceremony this time around. All four families were gathered in the Mitchell's yard. Yet David saw no one but his wife and daughter, standing tall, proud, and smiling beside Adam as David repeated the words of the resolution.

And, all during that bittersweet day, David was so grateful for how his life had worked out.

That evening, he brushed his hand on the pane of glass that covered his copy of the resolution, the last in the line of four that now lined the Mitchell's hallway.

Olivia appeared, squeezing his leg in her pajamas. "'Night, 'night, Daddy."

"'Night, Liv." He bent down and gave her a quick squeeze.

She disappeared into the living room to go to bed and, thinking that he was now alone in the hallway, David prayed softly, "Thank you, Lord, for giving me my family, well, giving them back to me. And thanks in advance for the chance to see her graduate, to walk her down the aisle. I couldn't imagine my life without them."

He never saw Adam, Victoria, and Dylan, frozen in their conversation nearby, listening to him.


	9. Chapter 9

Amanda had seen a lot of things, but the sight that met her as she opened the door to the house after work on April fifteenth was something entirely new. And it made her day a good day, which was saying something considering that it was a Monday.

She knew for a fact that she and Kayla were the only adults in the house, even if they hadn't technically stepped over the threshold, otherwise it wouldn't be happening. She felt more than saw Kayla's mouth drop open from her place behind Amanda when the older woman looked over Amanda's shoulder.

The Martinez children had spent the night, so the whole gang was back together, so to speak, at least where the kids were concerned.

And at this particular moment, they were paired off, doing different dances around the room to the credits of a cartoon. Amanda whipped out her phone and began to take a video. It would be interesting to see the guys' reaction to this.

Jordan had been coerced by Isabel into what Amanda supposed was some crazy sort of interpretation of a Mexican folk dance, and the duo was laughing their heads off. Olivia was protesting, insisting that Marcos was supposed to be dancing "right like this!", and the easy-going boy was patiently following her directions. Even Jackson and Bethany were sitting together, laughing at the older children's antics. And in the middle of it all, Dylan and Jade were dancing together, heads bent together as they swayed slowly to the music, arms around the other's neck.

Upon a closer look, Amanda saw that the teens were sharing an iPod between them, plugged in via ear buds. That would explain the way they were dancing.

"Prophetic?" Amanda asked Kayla in a whisper.

"Oh, boy, that would be interesting."

But that was all they got a chance to say, because the kids began to notice them. The looks on Dylan's and Jade's faces were quite an interesting sight. Amanda just smiled and shook her head as if to say,  _what are we going to do with you two?_  Kayla pretended that nothing had happened and went on her way, smiling to herself.

They were something else, these kids.

* * *

Catherine arched an eyebrow as she glanced into the waiting room of the hospital. Hadn't that same group of people been here in November? It was the final day of May, by now though, she reasoned, and the father of the moment was obviously an entirely different person.

She recognized the young man, holding his newborn son with stars in his eyes, as David Thomson.

"I love my job." Anna declared, coming up to Catherine as she slipped out of the waiting room. "And  _he_ ," Anna motioned through the door to David and the numerous people surrounding him. "Loves his family. God bless whoever had the brains to put that boy and his wife together. Who was it anyway?"

"That," Catherine smiled. "Is a trick question with way too many answers. What's his name? The baby I mean?"

"Jonathan David."

"My guess is that his sister thought it up?"

Anna laughed, nodding. "You got that right."

"David and Amanda are the ones who finally got it right, not me."

* * *

Dylan and Jade stepped together into the house the following day. Each tossed their backpacks onto the floor at their feet as they slouched in recliners. They were the epitome of relieved. Dylan smiled at his mother, heaving a relieved sigh as his mother laughed at them.

"We survived the school year." He declared, standing and taking his baby sister from his mom. "Hey, Beth." He cooed.

"So I see." Victoria answered, grinning as Jordan, Jackson, and Olivia thundered up from the hallway.

Exclamations of "Jade!" and "Dylan's home!" filled the air for a minute as the kids crowded in to give their habitual "welcome home" hugs to the two teenagers.

Victoria couldn't help but smile, because this was so close a mental image to the picture she had of her son's future. Surrounded by kids, with a baby in his arms, and, more recently she'd began seeing, Jade at his side. And to look at him, she knew that he saw it too.

* * *

Dylan was disgruntled on the twenty-second, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. The Thomson's were moving into their own place, and Dylan, quite simply, didn't want to see them go.

There was a soft smile on Jade's lips as Jade stood in the yard with everyone else. Olivia was in Dylan's arms, her head burrowed into his shoulder. The five year old was torn. She wanted to have a special place to live with just Mommy, Daddy, and her little brother, but she did not want to leave her big brother behind.

"It's time to go." David informed Olivia. "You have to go get in your car seat, sweetie."

Olivia stuck out her bottom lip. Jade came over to stand beside David, in front of the dejected looking duo of Dylan and Olivia.

She placed a hand on Olivia's arm and said, "I don't know if you remember or not, but, back when Isabel and Marcos moved, Dylan said 'They're only moving across town. We'll still see them at church and a lot more besides.' Do you remember that?"

Olivia nodded.

"He was right then, and it's the same thing now. Just across town."

Olivia nodded again and gave Dylan a final hug before he set her on her feet. She ran to get in the car as Amanda slipped up to stand beside David.

"We want to thank you two." David informed Dylan and Jade. "You've done so much for her – for us too actually. So thanks."

Dylan nodded and shook David's' proffered hand, speaking for the both of them. "It was a pleasure. I'd be glad to do it any time."

"We'll probably take you up on that."

"Good."

David grinned again before he and Amanda got in their car and drove off towards their own house.

"Hey," Dylan turned to Jade and said. "Thanks for the reminder about what I'd said. I'd forgotten it."

Dylan grinned sheepishly when she replied dryly, "I could tell."


	10. Chapter 10

The next night, a Sunday evening, Adam smiled at his son, who despite the fact that there was now plenty of open seats, still chose to sit cross-legged on the floor side by side with Jade.

"So, you start work tomorrow, right?"

Dylan nodded.

"Since when did you get a job?" Nathan asked the teenager in surprise.

"A friend from school set it up for me to do over the summer. At a video game store."

"That'll be a good job for you." Victoria spoke up. "Although, I haven't seen you playing video games much here recently."

Dylan shrugged. "I have more important things that take up my time now."

Nathan smiled softly. "I'm fairly certain that you've had those same things in your life for a while now."

"Yeah." Dylan shrugged. "They're just coming to the forefront now."

"I get that."

"Hey, guess what I found?" Jade inquired of Dylan, coming into the living room.

"What?"

Jade shook his cellphone, crossing the room to hand it to him.

"Where did you find it?" he asked, taking it.

"In my purse. You must have dropped it into my purse when we took the boys to the park yesterday. So I will say again: my purse is not your dumping ground."

"It's just easier." Dylan replied, smiling easily.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Mm-hm. For who?" She turned back to go into the kitchen. "I'm gonna go do the dishes. Join me if you feel like it."

"And if I don't?" he shot back.

"Then I'll get some nice somebody to help me."

"Just tell me when you need me and I'll be in there."

"All right."

A moment passed before Dylan said slowly, "You know, I heard somewhere that you can tell somebody's opinion of you by the ring they have set for you on their cellphone."

"Oh yeah?" Adam asked.

Dylan nodded, smirking at Nathan as "I Loved Her First" filled the room. "Oh yeah. You can tell."

Nathan grabbed his cell from his pocket and hit "ignore" on its screen, wondering what Dylan was going to say about his choice of ringtone. Dylan just grabbed the laptop and typed something in. In a minute, he started mouthing something, and Nathan realized that he was reading the lyrics to the song. Well, good for him. He wanted to know Dylan's response, especially now that David wasn't around to defend him twenty-four/seven.

The first thing Dylan said to him was, "This one part doesn't fit."

"What part?" Nathan asked, settling on the floor beside Dylan.

Dylan pointed to the screen, to a couplet in the song.  _And I knew the first time I saw you with her/It was only a matter of time._

"First time was in the shoe store." Dylan explained. "That doesn't fit. We weren't even thinking like that yet, you know that."

"According to your dad, that was just the second time he'd seen you smile since the car accident."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, well he knows his kid and I know mine. And I just had this feeling. And then, the next time - at the resolution ceremony –" He saw Dylan cringe and Nathan laughed a little. "How stupid do you think that I am, kid?"

"You're not." Dylan answered.

"No, I am not. So just know: I loved her first."

"Hey, Dylan," Jade's voice floated in from the kitchen. "I'm ready for your help."

Whether Dylan was a runner or not, Nathan had never seen a kid move so fast to do dishes. Nathan grinned, noticing Dylan's cellphone still laying on the carpet beside him. Curious, he called it, laughing outright when he heard the boy's song of choice.

Rodney Atkins' "Cleaning This Gun".

* * *

"You know what?" Nathan spoke up.

"What?" Jade asked, looking up from her picnic supper.

It was August sixth, one week exactly until her seventeenth birthday, and, as it was such, she was surprised that her dad sounded so chipper. It was also Tuesday, which meant that they were on their weekly father-daughter date.

"Since next Tuesday is your birthday, I was thinking that we might get the gang together and go out to eat next Tuesday instead of the usual one-on-one picnic. Is that okay with you?"

Jade nodded eagerly. "Yeah, sure."

"So where do I tell people you feel like going?"

Jade cocked her head to the side, thinknig. "Well, I'm not sure that I want to do it to Amanda, but I've really been in the mood for Pearly's."

Nathan smiled. "That's my girl. And don't worry, I'm' sure that Amanda will be willing to take one for the team. Or at least for you."

Jade smiled. "Yeah, I guess. I don't know. She is a good sister, at least that's what I kind of think of her as."

"Adam says that she's his adopted daughter, so I'd say she's more of your sister-in-law."

Jade's pulse skittered unreasonably, but she tried to keep her tone even when she asked, "Why? Has Dylan talked to you about something that I haven't heard about yet?"

Nathan smirked at her. "Do you really think that I would tell you if he had?"

"No." Jade conceded. "But that's not an answer to my question."

"And you're not going to get one." Nathan informed her.

"Dad," she objected loudly. "That's not fair! Not fair at all! As a matter of fact, that's just wrong! You have to tell me!"

"No, I don't have to." Nathan argued merrily. "And you better be nice, or I might just say no."

"So he hasn't!"

"I didn't say that." Nathan smiled evenly, and Jade had no idea what the answer to her question was.

Great. Now she was curious.

* * *

Dylan relaxed against the wall of the living room, closing his eyes, heaving a huge sigh, and shutting the notebook in his lap with a resounding bang.

He let the declaration "They're done" out with another relieved sigh.

 _And just in time for her birthday_ , he mused to himself.  _Her birthday…_

He sat straight up, his eyes flying open. "That's it!"


	11. Chapter 11

Monday morning was bad. David had never seen Nathan so uptight as he was simply driving along the streets of Albany.

"All right, you know what?" David said at last. "If I have to deal with someone all day who's acting like a hormonal teenager, I think that I reserve the right to know what's made him that way."

"Tomorrow's her birthday." Nathan's answer was clipped.

"Yeah, so?" If Dylan had actually had  _the conversation_  with Nathan, David was going to let Nathan tell him all on his own.

"So. Do you remember the conversation we had on her last birthday?"

David searched his memory as snippets of the conversation that he figured Nathan was talking about came back to him. "Oh. Yeah."

"Yeah."

"So…"

"So I'm still waiting for him to ask."

"So, you're cranky because of what you think is coming?"

"I don't think. I know. We both do."

David shrugged and decided to take the chance. "True enough."

"Yeah. And do you know what that crazy kid put on the board today? It had to be him, I know it was. The song." He waited for David to nod before he continued his rant. "The song was 'Stealing Cinderella.'"

David arched his eyebrows. "As in "I came to see her daddy/For a sit down man to man/It wasn't any secret/I'd be asking for her hand.'?"

"Yep." Nathan answered hotly.

"Oh, boy."

"Yep."

David sent a quick text to Dylan.  _U alive? Stealing Cinderella was a dumb move._

The response came quickly.  _I no. Elope before he gets home?_

_U do, u r dead._

_No that 2. Joking. Help?_

David laughed mirthlessly.  _How?_

_U have daughter. Connect with him or something._

_Not helping ur case. I'd kill that boy 2._

_David! Please! Help! Need him in a good mood 2night._

_2night?_

_The talk._

_Didn't need to no that._

_U asked._

_U didn't have 2 answer._

_David! Help!_

_I try._

_Thx._

David put his phone away and turned back to Nathan, who was staring straight ahead.

Before he could even open his mouth, Nathan said, "I saw. Tonight here we come."

David nodded. "Yep."

* * *

Dylan was sitting on the front porch steps when Adam and Nathan pulled up after work. Adam looked at Nathan, giving him a look that said  _good luck_. Nathan looked at Adam and took a deep breath, and got out of the truck. He looked at Dylan and nodded towards the patio table in the yard. Adam clapped Dylan on the shoulder, another silent  _good luck_ , and went inside. Dylan stood and sat back down at the table in the yard, choosing a seat facing away from the house.

Smart boy. Nathan sighed internally.  _Man._

Silence stretched between them before Dylan laughed dryly at himself. "I don't even know what to say. A year and a half in the making, and I don't even know what to say."

"Neither did I." Nathan confessed with a small smile, remembering that evening with William Barrett. "William was nice to me though."

"William Barrett?" Dylan asked incredulously.

"Yeah. He's Kayla's dad. You didn't know that?"

"No."

"The kids call him grandpa." Nathan pointed out.

"I thought that they meant because he was so close to you."

"Nope."

Dylan nodded. "Hm. So… what did he say to you?"

Nathan sat back in his chair, taking a deep breath. "He told me that he knew what I was there for, "so why don't I just save us both the trouble and give you my blessing?'"

Dylan's jaw dropped open. "He did that for you?"

Nathan laughed and nodded. "He did. I think he felt sorry for me."

Dylan nodded, his gaze finding his hands. "That makes sense. Listen, Nathan… I know that Jade's your daughter, and, maybe, in the smallest way, I get that, being around Isabel, Olivia, and Bethany. But she and I have been together so much, with the kids, and the house and everything else, that, on a certain level, I feel like she's… well, like she's my wife. I don't want a day without her anymore. Ever again. I… I want to marry her." He corrected himself. "I want your blessing on our marriage. We both do."

Nathan laced his hands behind his head. "Then you have it."

Nathan had no idea why Dylan looked so surprised. "I do? We do?"

Nathan nodded, letting the smile stretch across his face. "You do."

"We do. We do!"

"Aren't you going to go tell her?"

"Nope." Dylan sat back in his own chair.

"Well, why not?"

"I haven't asked her yet. That's on tomorrow's 'to do' list."

* * *

Dylan was awake early the next morning. He had work in a few hours, but until then, he went about his normal routine. He was dressed and getting out the ingredients for breakfast when Jade bounced into the kitchen.

"Good morning!" she greeted him with more cheer than morning usually gave her.

"Good morning to you too." Dylan returned the greeting with his back to her, head in the refrigerator. "Hey, your birthday present is on the table. Or did you forget this birthday too?"

Jade laughed. "Nope."

Dylan put the carton of eggs on the counter and turned to watch her unwrap the package. He noticed that she was wearing the yellow dress that Amanda had bought for her for the previous year's birthday present. Jade looked with interest at the four imprinted leather notebooks, red, yellow, green, and blue. Dylan had asked a family friend to put the designs on them. He absently wondered if she recognized her own doodles on the covers. He saw the moment that she did.

"Oh, wow… Dylan! I love them!"

He smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Open them."

She gave him a strange look, but complied. She opened the red one. The cover had on it a couple of well-known Scripture passages and a crown of thorns. She gasped when she saw that his hand-writing filled the pages.

"Dylan…" she whispered.

She moved onto the next one. Yellow – comedy - with a sunflower and a couple of snippets of poetry on the cover. It too was filled with his careful handwriting, the neatest he could muster.

The green one – he had looked for a long time to find one that was  _jade_  - had a pen and inkwell on it and a few more lines of poetry. This notebook was part inspirational, part Jade's writings. Her mouth dropped open as she flipped to the second half of the book and noticed that fact. His smile just widened.

And then she reached for the last one. Blue – romantic stuff. It had a picture of the back of a bride with her veil on, and a few quotes on the cover. He swallowed hard, shifting as she skimmed through the notebook. He knew that she always read the back of the book first, and since it was the back of the last book that he wanted her to see, it stood to reason that she'd see it any time now.

"Read me some of it?" He asked, sitting in the chair across from her at the table.

She smiled at him and asked, "These are a replacement for my "Treasury of the Familiar," aren't they?"

"Something like that. It was the first thing that you mentioned wanting after the fires."

Dylan bit his lip when she flipped, predictably, to the last page of the book. He sat quietly as she read a poem, and then perked up as she read:

"And the most necessary quote to a relationship:" She smiled at him reading that. "'Will you marry me?'" her voice got quieter and quieter as she read, "quote by Dylan Mitchell, August 13, 2013." She turned hopeful, tear-filled eyes back to him. "Dylan?" she whispered.

"Well," he asked. "Will you? Will you, marry me, Jade Hayes?"

She nodded, saying past her tears, "Yes."

He smiled. "Thank you."

She laughed and wiped her tears away. "Now what?"

"Now you switch the claddagh."

"Oh yeah."

She took the ring from her right hand, pointing inward – in a relationship – and put it on her left hand, the tip of the heart pointing outward – engaged.

"Now we wait and see when they notice."


	12. Chapter 12

It didn't take long.

Nathan was the third person up and he made a beeline straight for his daughter. Father and daughter ended up dancing around the living room, "Just one more time for old time's sake."

Dylan smiled as lyrics came to mind, because that was when he saw it too.  _She was playing Cinderella_  
She was riding her first bike  
Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight  
Running through the sprinkler with a big popsicle grin  
Dancing with her dad, looking up at him  
In her eyes I'm Prince Charming  
But to him I'm just some fella  
riding in and stealing Cinderella.

Kayla and Victoria both cried. Adam was a much needed breath of fresh air, of sanity, that morning for the two teenagers.

It was an unforgettable morning.

* * *

David only had to step into the muster room later that morning and glance at Nathan to know that Dylan had popped the question.

And he had thought that yesterday was bad. It was going to be an interesting day with Nathan today.

* * *

Jade had barely stepped into Pearly's later that night when she heard Amanda cry out, "Yes!"

She had seen the change in the ring. Jade smiled at the woman she intended to be her matron of honor. She had turned to go talk to Amanda when Carmen's scream split the air.

Forget the fact that they were in a public place.

Javier smiled and shook his head, though Jade thought that it was probably because of his wife, not the engagement. William Barrett gave her a long hug, and shook Dylan's hand firmly.

David stepped up to Dylan and laid a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes with false gravity. "I told you so."

Dylan laughed as Bobby slapped him on the back, offering his congratulations before going to talk to his favorite waitress.

Jade thought that there was probably something going on there.

Dylan slipped back up to her after a minute, and they watched Bobby and the waitress, Kara, for another minute.

"Double wedding?" Dylan whispered.

"I don't think that they'll last until twenty fifteen." Jade informed him.

He nodded. "That does seem like forever."

Jade's grandfather, hearing Dylan's comment, assured them, "It'll fly by."

* * *

May 30, 2015

Nathan took a deep breath and stepped into the Mitchell's house. The day after his daughter's graduation – and Dylan's – and how was he spending it? Walking her down the aisle.

"Are you ready?"he asked, stepping up to his daughter, dressed head to toe in white.

She nodded, eyes sparkling with insurmountable happiness. "Are you?"

Nathan shook his head. "Never."

"Daddy?" she asked softly. "One more time? Just for old time's sake?"

He smiled, remembering the last time she'd said those words, and pulled her close, swaying softly back and forth to music that neither one of them heard.

She looked up at him, his little girl, on the threshold of getting married. "I love you, Daddy."

He replied around the growing lump in his throat, "I love you too, sweetheart."

The matron of honor, Amanda, stepped into the room. "They're ready for us."

Nathan sighed. "Then I guess we'd better be ready for them."

* * *

Amanda knew that the promise that Jade and Dylan had made to her was the reason that they hadn't married before now. Promises had kept them from doing many things, she mused, standing beside Jade in the bright sunshine. As the thought crossed her mind, she was jerked from her thoughts when it came time for the ring exchange.

Jade slid a silver wedding band onto Dylan's left hand.

When it was Dylan's turn to give Jade her ring, Nathan stood up and went to Jade, sliding her purity ring off of her hand, and kissing her on the forehead. It was a beautiful moment to see.

Dylan took the claddagh ring that Jade had removed before the ceremony and put it back on her, this time on her ring finger, heart pointing inward.

Married.

When Jade and Dylan pulled apart after what Amanda knew was their first kiss –ever – she could have sworn that she heard Jade whisper, "Worth it."

The future was bright for those two.

* * *

Dylan folded himself onto the couch, sitting behind his wife, who was sitting sideways on the piece of furniture, getting ready to braid her hair. She gasped when he took over the job, splitting her hair into three sections and weaving them together, a talent he'd learned on Emily when they were little.

He and Jade both smiled. Although it was now the evening of her birthday, the little things he did still took her by surprise.

"Jade," he inquired softly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

"You're also a bad liar."

She grinned. "I mean it, not a thing is wrong."

"Well, something is different, so what is it?"

He finished with the braid and she stood up, looking him in the eye from his place on the couch. "Promise you won't panic?"

"Why would I panic if nothing is wrong?"

"Just… I'll be right back."

She disappeared down the hallway of their trailer and reappeared a moment later. It took him a second to realize that it was an EPT that she was holding out to him.

"Happy birthday to me." She whispered.

He was still slow to comprehend. "You… this… it's positive?"

Jade nodded, watching him, smiling with contained glee. "You, Dylan Mitchell, are going to be a daddy."

Dylan was glad he was all ready seated. Jade sat on the couch beside him, looking in his eyes.

"Now, like I said, don't panic. I did some math and you'll have about a month after being sworn into the sheriff's office before I have to take off from work. We'll still have a perfectly steady income, where it's coming from is just changing."

Dylan hadn't thought of that. He was devoting his full time to his training, and Jade was the only one working at the moment, but she was right. So there was no reason to worry about that. Everything was going to be perfect.

He leaned back against the couch, laughing in a way that sounded demented to his ears. "I'm gonna be a daddy."

Jade nodded. "Uh-huh."

"And you're going to be a mother."

Her smile widened. "Yeah."

"No." Dylan sat up. "We all ready are. There's a child inside of you with a heartbeat. It's living and we are all ready taking care of it, well, you know what I mean. We are all ready parents. Huh." He leaned back against the couch with sparkling eyes, pulling Jade into his arms. "Mrs. Mitchell, we are parents."

 


	13. Chapter 13

The following Saturday found Dylan and Jade unpacking the last of their things in the trailer.

"Hey, Dylan, where do you want these?" Jade asked, holding up a box of home videos.

"I have no idea. Those are Dad and Mom's, they aren't even supposed to be here. I'll give them back to them tomorrow."

"Really?" Jade asked, setting the box down on the coffee table and picking a tape from the box.

Before Dylan could stop her, she had one of the movies inserted into the video player. His four year old face popped up no the television screen.

"Awww! Look at you!"

"I'd rather not." Dylan grumbled.

"Oh, come here. Five minutes? Please?"

Dylan sighed and plopped down beside his wife as the width of the scene on the screen widened and he was seen stumbling around in his father's black uniform shoes. Jade laughed.

"Look, Daddy, I'm just like you!" the boy on the screen said.

"Why, yes, you are!" Adam came on the screen and swung his son up into his arms.

The too-big shoes fell off.

"They'll never fit!" the young Dylan pouted.

"You'll fit into them soon enough, son, I promise. They're big shoes to fill, that's all. Give it some time and try again."

"Promise I'll be able to fit into them?"

"I promise." Adam assured the youngster.

Jade turned off the video, saying, "I bet they'd fit now."

Dylan sighed as thoughts of the department and the child inside of Jade swirled in his mind. "I sure hope so."

* * *

Dylan thought if that video again as he laced up his own shoes the following February. He felt strange when he looked in the full-length mirror and saw himself in the brown deputy's uniform. It was like looking at a photo of his father from Adam's rookie days.

_Look, Daddy, I'm just like you!_

"Come on, Rookie, let's go get you sworn in." jade said brightly, drawing him out of his thoughts.

* * *

Adam didn't cry, not in front of the other deputies, no way, no how. But he had never in his life come as close as he did as he watched his son step up to Sheriff Gentry and take the oath.

A forgotten memory from long ago flitted through Adam's mind.  _Look, Daddy, I'm just like you!_

Adam nodded. Poor Dylan.  _Why, yes, you are!_

But he still didn't let himself cry.

* * *

Until March second.

Once again this date, the date of Emily's death, was the one chosen for a resolution signing. Bobby and Kara were expecting their first child, and Bobby had decided that he wanted to sign the resolution.

And so had Dylan.

Adam took a deep breath and called his son forward to stand in front of him. Both Bobby and Dylan had wanted him to officiate their ceremony.

Pride in his son swelled in Adam's chest as he looked at the young man before him. All the while, he couldn't help seeing the little boy that Dylan had been.

* * *

Dylan stood tall and serious before his father. The words that he all ready knew by heart, words that had become such an integral part of his life, took on a new meaning as he spoke them. They seemed to come alive.

_Look, Daddy, I'm just like you!_

"I do solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.  
I will love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.  
I will be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.  
I will bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.  
I will train them to honor authority and live responsibly.  
I will confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy.  
I will pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion.  
I will work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.  
I will forgive those who have wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.  
I will learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.  
I will seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.  
I will courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory."

There wasn't a dry eye in the yard as Dylan quoted, "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

 


End file.
